Chapter Thirteen
“I cannot believe it. The wedding is in two months. I have so much to do. Thank you, sis, for coming down as much as you have. I know with your full schedule and all, there are more things you could be doing on the weekends instead of traveling to Dallas, helping me out.” An emotional Mercy became teary as she talked to Stoney. Loving the bond between herself and Stoney, Mercy was unable to see through her watery eyes and had to take a break.
Hearing “sis” come from Mercy toward her warmed Stoney’s heart just the same. With their chance meeting over three years ago while Mercy was a pharmacy assistant and Stoney a customer, it was with Mercy’s help that Stoney was able to locate her biological mother.
“Ohhhh. Don’t start all of that crying now, Mercy. Save it all for the wedding day.” She walked over, bent down, and gave her sister a tight squeeze. “I’m just as excited as you, Mercy. And thank you again for allowing me to be your maid of honor.” Stoney held the last syllable as she jokingly ran a goofy run back over to Mercy. Laying a big kiss on her sister’s cheek, Stoney gave Mercy another gigantic hug.
“Girl, move with all the mushy stuff.” Mercy kept gluing rhinestones on the keepsake boxes she was making for her bridesmaids, not bothering to push Stoney away at all. “You better move before you get burnt.” Mercy aimed the glue gun at Stoney.
Stoney had lived in Dallas alone; actually in the world, period, by her lonesome. With just two friends in Dallas, Mike and Vicky, it wasn’t until Mercy had lent herself to Stoney that the lost young girl Stoney was finally felt as if she belonged. And the same with Mercy.
Mercy had gotten pregnant with Grant Jr. and was at a place emotionally not knowing how to break the news to her mother, Kendra, and stepfather. The two young women were there for one another, with the end product leaving them being more than friends.
Through all of the hours together and research they participated in, it was found that Mercy’s stepfather was Stoney’s biological father. From that day of realization, nothing brought them closer than the ordeal they’d gone through.
Stoney had literally lost her cool, losing her mind in the midst of it all. So adamant about finding her mother, Stoney had kidnapped Mercy and followed Keithe on a four-hour drive back to Houston. Because of what she’d done, a guilty feeling had always lingered over Stoney. It had only been a few months ago that Stoney had finally ceased apologizing about all she had put a then-pregnant Mercy through.
While Stoney had so many hang-ups from being abandoned by her mother and left with a schizophrenic grandmother, there were so many made-up rules that confused the young Stoney. Even down to what she wore. Now new to expanding her wardrobe, wearing jeans or pants of any kind, Stoney pulled on and prodded her blue jean knickers she’d bought. Still getting used to wearing the latest fashions, Stoney made Mercy laugh with her constant pulling.
“What’s wrong? Your pants riding high on you?” Mercy didn’t try to hold in her laugh.
“Oh hush up now. I think I just got the wrong cut. I keep forgetting these hips aren’t made just for anything to be put on them.” Stoney stood and pulled some more.
Caught up in their clowning around they were doing, Grant Jr. made his way between the two sisters. “I want kisses, TT Stowy.” He pulled on Stoney’s shirt while he tried his best to get his two-year-old pronunciation intact.
“Aww, come here, Jr. Let Auntie smoother you with kisses too.” She threw her love licks all over the toddler.
Racing him around the room in the air, Stoney made a pit landing back in the chair she started in. With Grant Jr. still in her lap, Stoney relaxed.
“This really is exciting. I mean, I’m so glad you and Grant stuck this out. You’ve proven it doesn’t have to always end up just crazy,” the twenty-four-year-old said. “You’re a wonderful mother and great girlfriend. I mean, you are holding a lot of things down.” Stoney referred to Mercy being a graduate student, working toward her doctorate as a pharmacist.
“Well, you know what the Word says: ‘He will never put more on you than you can bear.’ That’s what I’ve kept in mind this whole time.” Mercy took a mental break and leaned back in her upright chair.
Getting pregnant with her son at age twenty-one brought on a whole new outlook when it came to life. No thought to quitting school, Mercy could only credit her mother, stepfather, and her boyfriend, Grant, who stepped up to the plate and helped her keep her dream of completing school intact.
Able to live with minimal rent in the pool house in the back of her parent’s home, Mercy was thankful to have her own small family stable. Blessed to finish out her studies in Houston, Mercy gave major kudos to Grant for taking care of their son for weeks at a time. Until she would come home for her mental break of college life, Grant would be the number-one caretaker in Grant Jr.’s life.
“I’m just thankful. I can’t thank God enough for Grant being a stand-up guy. He takes good care of my baby,” Mercy said, not forgetting to add that Grant took good care of her as well.
Laughing and with her eyes half bucked out her head, Stoney chanted, “Who dat is?”
“That’s just my baby daddy,” Mercy sang in a tiny voice, gave a hearty laugh, and then stopped. “Not! Bam!” She stuck her left hand in the air and waved it to show off the effects of her one-and-a-half-carat engagement ring. Both ladies started laughing. “Girl, let me hush ’fore I wake Grant up from his nap. My husband to be has to get his rest, you know.”
“Um, huh?” Stoney gave off a cutesy smile.
Mercy loved her ring and tried to show it off whenever she could. She never mentioned the fact that she had been the one who had picked it out and bought it.
Sharing in a fun moment with Stoney, in the back of her mind Mercy couldn’t stop thinking about Grant and how he’d been acting lately: standoffish, almost mute, and even, at times, disgusted. She didn’t know what to think of Grant right about now. With the wedding just weeks away, there was no way she would share her doubts. There was no way she would call off the wedding of her dreams just because of a little shift in his attitude. Perhaps he was just getting cold feet. That was normal. No need to break things off. Besides she would not embarrass herself by doing so. Whatever it was, she just prayed he would soon get over it so they would be able to get on with their lives together.
When Stoney and Mercy heard a knock and then twist of the doorknob, they waited to see who would come through the door.
“Hey, Auntie Kenya,” Mercy said. Standing to take a break, Mercy offered her arms to her young aunt who had been closer in age to her than she was to her mother.
“Hi, Ms. Kenya. Oops, I mean, Auntie Kenya,” Stoney greeted the lady she admired. Kenya was exactly how Stoney envisioned herself: sold out to Christ and still beautiful on the inside as well as the outside.
With Kenya only being back in the city, permanently, for a little over year, Stoney still hadn’t gotten the opportunity to get to know more about her. But that didn’t stop them from having fun and loving on one another. With Kenya traveling in the US and beyond due to her evangelist duties, all the drama of Stoney stalking her biological parents she had missed out on. Stoney still hoped no one had filled Kenya in to a T. And if they had, she had hoped to prove herself a changed, healed young woman.
“Hey, girls. What y’all got going?” Kenya slapped her hands together and readied herself to help.
“Well, since you asked ...” Mercy moved her material, scissors, and glue gun out of the way so that Kenya could have her seat. “You can take over gluing these rhinestones while I show Stoney how to wrap the bottom of these boutonnieres with this green two-sided tape.”
Moving to her awaiting seat, Kenya was proud of her niece. Her only sister’s baby, Kenya was very proud of her family.
“I’m so proud of you, Mimi.” Kenya referenced Mercy with the nickname she gave her long ago. “Look at all this. You are really putting some serious work in, huh?” Kenya eased herself into Mercy’s warm seat.
“She really is.” Stoney leant her opinion. “She has everything down, even to the kind of glue she needs. Everything is marked off the list.” They all laughed.
Knowing it was the truth, Mercy took pride in being truly involved in the planning and designing of her wedding.
“Are you nervous, niecey?” Kenya asked Mercy as she situated herself in her seat.
“Nervous for what?” Mercy answered as she walked toward her bedroom, checking on Grant, who had been taking a nap, wanting to make sure that their conversation hadn’t bothered her husband-to-be. “Like the old folks say, if you love him and he loves you ...” Mercy stopped short when she realized Grant Jr. was the only one in her bed watching television.
“Then what?” Stoney really wanted to know.
Confused, not realizing Grant had gotten up from his nap and left the house without letting her know, Mercy walked toward the living room and cut to the kitchen to check and see if his car was parked. “Then there is no need to worry.” Mercy’s voice trailed off as she looked out the kitchen window to see no car anywhere in sight.
Silently taking in the surroundings, Kenya believed just that. She believed that was all it took: for a man and woman to truly love one another. Yet and still, Kenya knew it would take more for her since she had crossed to the other side.
She was sure everyone was shaking their heads, not believing her niece, who was several years younger, was beating her to the altar. On one hand, Kenya couldn’t care less what people thought. But on the other hand she couldn’t help but to linger and wonder just what they were saying.
Yes, she wanted love. And yes, with the man of her dreams. But, just as luck would have it, right when she did finally ready herself for the next phase of her life, she had done things she couldn’t believe she had done. She’d gotten in her own way. Or so she’d liked to think, which she was sure to be the truth.
There was some major cleaning of the heart and mind she’d have to do before she could let go and let God.
She had always come across lying men, no-returning-calls men, full-of-talk-but-no-walk men. If that’s what Kenya had to put up with in order to begin a family, she thought, then she wouldn’t. But then there was Keithe. Shaking him out of her thinking, Kenya wanted to hear more from Mercy, who had returned from the kitchen. “Sounds like that’s enough to make it work. You shouldn’t have to worry about your marriage,” Kenya encouraged Mercy.
With a side smile, Mercy didn’t want to let on her true feelings concerning her upcoming nuptials. “Yep. I guess you’re right. Shouldn’t have to worry at all,” Mercy whispered as she sat back in her seat to finish her wedding decorations.
“Soooo.” Stoney saw the look on her sister’s face, but wanted to lighten up the mood. “Who has plans for V-Day? Auntie Kenya, any news on that new beau you won’t share?”
“Yeah. You never told us about your date. How’s it been going?” Mercy added, wanting to know details about Kenya’s date from two days earlier.
Not really excited about dating Mike when it was all a façade, Kenya had to put on a front nonetheless. “Well, I guess I can share with y’all.” She giggled. “Aaaaand, we are going out to dinner next week, on Valentine’s Day,” she shared.
“Ooooh, that has got to be something serious.” Stoney’s interest was sparked. “Guys just don’t go out on special holiday dates with women they aren’t interested in.”
Yes, they do. Especially if they are gay, was what Kenya really wanted to say, but she opted not to. “Umm, huh?” she responded instead.
“Wow. Looks as though you two may just have a double wedding next year yourselves.” Mercy cheered up.
“Whaaaat?” Kenya sang. “Do tell.” She stopped gluing the rhinestones and waited to hear what Stoney had to say.
Blushing uncontrollably, Stoney was excited. “He’s just a guy I’ve been friends with. We have the same major and have the majority of our classes at the same time. He asked me to dinner next week as well. Sooooo, we shall see.” Stoney grinned.
Excited about Stoney’s possibility, Kenya had to plaster a smile on her face that wouldn’t give off how she actually felt. She never would have believed she would have become a liar and a deceiver, inflicting pain on herself. “Yep. You never know. A double wedding just may be in the works for us,” Kenya said, knowing it couldn’t be any further from the truth.